Beer-carbonating device.



G. P. THUMM. BEER OARBONATING DEVICE. nPLIoATIoNHLnD Nov. e, 191s.

0 1,100,036. 0 Patented une 16,1914.

.sw d P fa ATTORNEY.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

QOTTLOBP. THUJMM. `02|? LOWELL, MASSACHUSETTS.

IBEER-CARBONATING DEVICE.

Specication pf Letters .Patent Patented June 16, 1914.

Application inea november e, 1ers. serial No. 799,506.

'Be wnthat ,1, Gorrnon P. T IrIUMM, a ,citizen of the V,United States,Vresldlng at L'Qfvv'ell,A .in the county of Middlesex and 'State'ofkMas'sachus'etta'have invented certain new land useful Improvements inBeer-Y Carbonating Devices, lof whichthe 'following a specification.

,Mydevice ,c5` be madefof aluminum which" does ngt corro epa-nd itis ofsuch character that :there islittle danger that it will be broken. l

In the drawings, x Ifligure 1 .is anelevation of the principal featureof m :device Aas it is passed through the wall. o a carbon tingtank vat the brewery. Fig. 24 is'a'sectional elevation similar to'Fig. 1. "Fig 3'is a'sec'- tion o n line X-Y of Fig. 1 looking'fr'om theright. Fig. 4 is a side elevation of a beer tank f the horizontal typewith my device in place with' necessary connections and attachments.Fig. 6 is a view of the'. outlet 'end ofthe mixingtube. Fig. 5 is adetail in sectional elevation showing my device attached to a woodenbeer tank.

My' device comprises a gas injector nozzle A which has a tapering snout10 and a base 11. Carried by nozzle A and (preferably attached theretoby screw threa s is a mixing tube holder B. Thisv comprises a head 24and a neck 20 lthreaded on the inside to engage outside threads onnozzle A as shown in Fig.'2.` The head 24 of holder B is cylindrical andhollow and is provided around the outside with openings 21 andpreferably at the end with other openings 22 for 'the intake of thebeer. I l

` The mixing tube C is threaded on the outside at one end to engageinterior threads in the head 24 of holder B whereby it can be readilyunscrewed and removed for cleaning purposes. This mixing tube C ispreferably several times larger in diameter than the snout of nozzle Aand is of suchlength that its end will V'extend to about the middle partof the beer tank. Nozzle A may' be attached .in varlous Ways to a valvesuch as P which passes through the` wall D ofthe beer mixing tank. Asshown in Figs. 1 and 2, the vbody lof valve P. may y'be screwed throughwall D and the base 11 of nozzle A may be screwed up tightly against a1nut 12 which is screwed tightly up against wall D. A wrench ma beapplied to nut 12, so that wall D may e `tightly gripped between it anda flange 34 on the outside of valve I.

Valve /P may be of any suitable design whereby it may be o cnedl orclosed from the outside, but I pre er the golden gatedesign y "v'vhereinpassages 35 may be opened or closed by means of wings 36 carried by astem` 37 the end 38 of which is of polygonal form ladaptedfto fit intothe end of tubular lkey 3:0.V Key 30 is tubular with one end shaped tolit end 38 and the other end. 39 adaptedto t into,l 'an elastic gas tube33 preferably of rubber. 'It` has studs 49 which engage slots insideflange 34 and passages which connect with the interior of valve P andthus with passages 35. A handle 43 'permits key 30 to beturned'V atwill.

In Fig. 4 is *shown a horizontal beer mixing-tank I-I with a domed wallK through wh'icl'i passes the valve P to which onv the inside is screwedthe nozzle A carrying the holder B and mixing tube C whichextends wellinto the tank. NozzleA is preferably bent to bring tube- C to ahorizontal position. By means of any suitable detachable coupling orkey'30, the valve P can, be opened or closed and the nozzle A can thusbe disconnected with the outside or connected through` key 30 attachedto a rubber gas tube 33, with a metal gas tube 31 having suitable valves32 coming from-a source-0f gas supply which it is not necessary toshow.When the gas is turned into the nozzle A, it will vbe readily seen thatan injector action is set up Whereby as the gas rushes through mixingtube C, it carries the adjoining beerin through inlets 21 and 22, andthe gas and `beer are mixed as they pass through tube C and dischargefrom the outlet 13 thereof into the other beer in the tank. In thismanner a general circulation, creation of currents and a general mixingof the-beer and gas is produced in thef tank whereby the beer isyrapidly saturated. I prefer to use a relief valve M on the tankYwhereby if the pressure exceeds a certain point, the valve will beopened and the excess of pressure discharged. I prefer to use a gage 50in connection therewith, by

@is preferable to set the relief valve for a ylower pressure than thatof the gas in the linlet pipe 3 1 as the pressure is reduced in passingthrough the beer.

In Figs. 4 and 6, I show a preferred construction ofthe mixing' tubewherein I pass into the outlet end of mixing tube C, a

spirally twisted strip of metal T which fits longitudinally looselyinside therein and is held in place by means of a pin 45 which passesthrough C and T near the outlet thereof. The effect of this spiral is todivide the gas and beer in mixing tube C and cause them to travel aroundspirally in two separate channels whereby Athey are better mixed, andwhen they are discharged from the outlet end ofthe mixing tube, theystill maintain somewhat of a rotary motion and are thereafter better.mixed This spiral strip also counteracts the tendency of the gasdelivered from nozzle A to rise and to travel along the upper part ofmixing tube C.

' In Fig. 5, I show the manner in which the golden gate valve Pvmay bescrewed into and through the wooden wall 46 of a beer tank WV.

A are cut to correspond with the threads on valve P.

. Which ever, form of lvalve is used it should pass through the Wall ofthe beer mixing tank and should be operative from the outside where itis also connected with a gas su ply tube. It may or may not be removab ewith the gas supply tube.

I claim:

p l. In a carbonating device for beer, the combination of a mixing tank,and a gas supply tube with a valve operative from the outside connectedwith such tube and which extends through the wall of the tank, aninjector nozzle attached inside the tank to the valve, a mixing tubeholder having inlets and carried by the nozzle, and a mixing tubesurrounding the end of the nozzle carried by the mixing tube holder asdescribed. y y

2. In a carbonating device for beer, the combination of a mixing tank,and a gas supply tube, with a valve operative from the outside connectedwith such tube and which extends through the wall of the tank, aninjector nozzle attached inside thetank to the valve, a mixing tubeholder having inlets and carried by the nozzle, a mixing tubesurrounding the end of the -nozzle carried by the mixing tube holder,and a spiral strip of metal which fits longitudinally in-.

' side the mixing tube as described. The threads on the base of nozzleIn testimony whereof I heretoalix my signature in presence of twowitnesses. Y GOTTLOB P. THUMM.

Witnesses: i GARDNER W. PEARsoN,

FISHER H. PEAnsoN.

